A title or form of address used for members of royalty or nobility, particularly in French-speaking regions.
From Old French 'altesse,' derived from Latin 'altus' meaning 'high,' reflecting the elevated status of those bearing the title.
While English speakers switched to 'Highness' for royalty, 'Altesse' remained popular in French courts and is still used in some European countries—it's a linguistic fossil showing how different languages preserved medieval social hierarchy in different words!
Altesse (French 'Highness') is applied to both male and female royalty but historically carried feminine grammatical markers in French, conflating biological sex with title formality. Gendered titles in royal/formal speech encode power hierarchies differently for men and women.
Use the full formal title or 'Your Highness' in English regardless of gender. In French, follow current usage of the person addressed, as modern French has formalized these terms neutrally.
["Your Highness","Your Royal Highness","the Prince/Princess","Your Serene Highness"]
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